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After a range of app-based launches, AURA hardware is to land as the hub of the home in Spain.

Telefónica España is to launch Movistar Home, its home video hub that is underpinned by its cognitive intelligence-driven digital assistant AURA, during October 2018.

The device is to be rolled out to other Telefónica markets in 2019, where there is deemed to be demand, particularly those following a convergent strategy.

Telefónica was also reportedly in “early”-stage negotiations with Google to cross­-integrate respective Movistar Home and Google Home and Google Assistant services. The operator was said to be performing technical tests with Google to integrate the technologies.

Google was also reported to be in similar talks with Spain’s other operators, with 20% of internet searches currently said to be voice-activated according to the internet giant. Google began offering its Google Home and Home Mini speakers in Spain during June 2018 with recently integrated Spanish-language support. Telefónica’s digital assistant comes with support for four languages, comprising English, German, Portuguese, and Spanish.

The Movistar Home device, which has its own screen with voice and video call capabilities, is similar in form to the Amazon Echo Show, will also manage home connectivity. The unit is intended to be a hub for users to manage all their Telefónica services and devices, and will give Movistar+ pay-TV customers access to additional functionality including account and billing management.

Telefónica launched AURA at the Mobile World Congress trade event in February 2018, with iterations released in six markets via three interfaces: a mobile app in Argentina, Brazil, and the UK; Facebook Messenger in Chile and Germany; and the Movistar+ pay-TV platform in Spain (Telefónicawatch, #124). However, the version in Spain did not appear to feature billing and account management at launch, with the release of the Movistar Home device ostensibly bringing this functionality to users, in addition to the ability to issue voice-activated commands to request content, subtitles, playback and recording functions, scheduling information, and recommendations already available on the pay-TV app.

Movistar Home‘s launch is to be accompanied by an advertising campaign, called Meet Movistar Home, and Telefónica was reported to have rolled out the device to six flagship stores in Barcelona and Madrid to test and showcase its capabilities.

Oscar Mancebo Ortiz, Head of Movistar Home at Telefónica España, said the device will initially focus on the telco’s main services, such as connectivity and television, but is expected to soon be expanded to other uses such as home automation. To this end, the telco was said to be working with “16 manufacturers and four technologies” in vertical sectors, including lighting and temperature management.

Telefónica emphasised the device’s privacy credentials, and indicated that it will have a “physical tab to ‘block it’ and create a ‘mute’ that makes a circuit cut at the hardware level to prevent it from being circumvented”, and added that it does not record or store any data.

Image: Telefónica

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